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영어

Onion is a term used for many plants in the genus Allium. They are known by the common name "onion" but, it usually refers to Allium cepa (A. cepa). A. cepa is also known as the ‘garden onion’ or ‘bulb’ onion and ‘shallot’. The purpose of this study was to investigate the
effect of A. cepa extracts on hair growth in an alopecia model of C57BL/6N mice. First, antioxidative activities of A. cepa extracts were examined with the stable free radical diphenylpicryl-hydrazyl (DPPH) scavenging activity and the total polyphenol content. The amount of quercetin in A. cepa extracts was examined by the inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy (ICP/MS). For animal test, mice were randomized and separated into six experimental groups including 50% ethanol (negative control), minoxidill, Acorus calamus extract, fresh onion juice, ethanol extract of A. cepa and hot water extract of A. cepa.
Quercetin was detected in A. cepa juice to be 47.49 ppm but not detected in other fractions. The hair-promoting activity appeared in the fraction without quercetin. This result suggested that the famous polyphenol quercetin showed no relation with hair growth so other compounds should be investigated afterwards.